Topline report
Job performance
How would you rate the job performance of Governor Andrew Cuomo?
Overall, Governor Andrew Cuomo's job performance remained solid, with 55% saying his job as governor was positive (excellent and good combined) and 45% saying it was negative (fair and poor combined). Less than a quarter of surveyed likely voters rated his job performance as "excellent" and a third said his job performance was "good."
Regionally, the numbers were slightly different. In Upstate New York, Cuomo's job performance was 46% positive and 54% negative. His numbers were much better in Downstate (55% positive and 45% negative) and NYC (65% positive and 34% negative). Governor Cuomo received some of his highest marks from large city voters (71% positive and 29% negative) and African Americans (70% positive and 29% negative).
Handling of the pandemic
How would you rate Governor Andrew Cuomo's handling of the coronavirus pandemic?
When we asked voters to rate Governor Cuomo's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, he received decent marks. Overall, 56% thought his handling was positive (excellent and good combined), 44% thought it was negative (fair and poor combined). Most voters thought he did a good job, but there were differences of opinion between younger and older voters. A majority (54%, fair and poor combined) of younger voters aged 18-29 thought his handling of the pandemic was negative compared to 44% of younger voters who thought it was positive (excellent and good combined). Older voters aged 65+ thought almost the exact opposite of Andrew Cuomo's handling of the pandemic (57% positive/43% negative).
2022 Gubernatorial Race
Does Governor Andrew Cuomo deserve to be re-elected or is it time for someone new?
Nearly half (47%) of voters said it was time for someone new, compared to 41% who said Cuomo deserves re-election and 12% who were not sure.
A majority (51% re-elected/37% someone new) of large city voters thought Cuomo should be re-elected, while majorities of suburban (39% re-elected/51% someone new) and rural voters (26% re-elected/65% someone new) thought it was time for a new leader to step-up. Suburban women (39% re-elected/46% someone new) in particular were somewhat fed-up and wanted someone new.
When we matched Andrew Cuomo against current Attorney General and rising star, Letitia James, Cuomo easily won, 65% to 22%, while, 13% were not sure. His numbers were almost identical against Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY 14). in a hypothetical Democratic party showdown, Cuomo led the firebrand Millennial 67% to 24%, while 9% were not sure. While Ocasio-Cortez did not fair well against Cuomo, she did beat the three term governor among the youngest voters-aged 18-29 (Cortez led 47% to 43%, 10% not sure) and aged 18-24 (Cortez led 53% to 43%, 4% not sure).
The hypothetical candidate who polled the best against Governor Cuomo was Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY 22). In a hypothetical match-up, Cuomo received 49% of the vote compared to 37% who supported Stefanik, while 14% were not sure.
While Cuomo is easily beating Stefanik, the three time governor did show areas of vulnerability. Stefanik performed the best with Upstate New York voters, where she beat Andrew Cuomo 46% to 43%. She also performed well with white voters (Cuomo led 45% to 42%), men (Cuomo led 47% to 42%) and voters that were married (Both tied at 44%).
Nursing Home Controversy
In your opinion is Governor Andrew Cuomo responsible for the thousands of deaths in New York State that needlessly occurred as a result of his decision last March to require nursing homes to accept patients released from hospitals, despite them being COVID-positive and despite testing deficiencies for both residents and staff?
With the recent bombshell report released by the New York Attorney General's Office on the nursing home crisis during the pandemic, voters are now blaming Andrew Cuomo for the thousands of deaths that occurred in nursing homes because of decisions made by the Cuomo administration, especially the directive to have nursing homes re-admit sick patients who tested positive for Covid-19. When we asked voters if they thought Governor Cuomo was responsible for the thousands of deaths in nursing homes statewide, half said it was Cuomo's fault, and only a third did not agree; one fifth were not sure.
Among the demographics surveyed, voters in NYC (52% Cuomo/32% not Cuomo) were slightly more likely to blame Governor Andrew Cuomo than voters in Upstate (49% Cuomo/33% not Cuomo) and the suburbs (45% Cuomo/29% not Cuomo). Men (55% Cuomo/32% not Cuomo) blamed Cuomo much more than women (42% Cuomo/31% not Cuomo). While Democrats (39% Cuomo/38% not Cuomo) were split, Republicans (69% Cuomo/24% not Cuomo) and Independents (42% Cuomo/31% not Cuomo) both blamed Cuomo, albeit at different levels of intensity. African Americans (19% Cuomo/50% not Cuomo) were the least likely to blame Cuomo, but white voters felt the opposite and put the blame on Cuomo for thousands of deaths in nursing homes statewide.
New York Politicians
Not surprisingly, among the New York politicians surveyed, Governor Cuomo had the best favorability rating (61% favorable/37% unfavorable). Senator Chuck Schumer (NY-D) had the next highest favorability rating at 54% favorable (very and somewhat favorable combined), while 36% were not favorable (somewhat and very unfavorable combined). Not far behind was Attorney General Letitia James, who received a 51% favorability rating. James' unfavorable rating (20%) was much better than Cuomo's (37%), although 17% were not familiar with her, but this could change in the coming months.
The junior Senator from New York, Kirsten Gillibrand, received a 50% favorable/29% unfavorable rating. NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio had the worst favorable/unfavorable rating (38% favorable/51% unfavorable).
The two youngest politicians surveyed, both of whom were the youngest Congresswomen ever elected to the House, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Elise Stefanik, received the lowest marks. The Queens Congresswoman's favorability rating was 44% favorable/40% unfavorable. Stefanik's favorability rating was lower at 33% favorable/20% unfavorable, but she was not familiar to nearly a third of surveyed voters.
|
Politician |
Very favorable |
Somewhat favorable |
Somewhat unfavorable |
Very unfavorable |
Not familiar |
Not sure |
| New York Governor Andrew Cuomo | 30% | 31% | 12% | 25% | 1% | 2% |
| New York Attorney General Letitia James | 23% | 28% | 11% | 9% | 17% | 13% |
| New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio | 12% | 25% | 19% | 33% | 2% | 9% |
| New York Senator Chuck Schumer | 24% | 29% | 12% | 24% | 4% | 6% |
| New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand | 20% | 30% | 14% | 16% | 10% | 11% |
| Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez | 22% | 22% | 14% | 25% | 7% | 9% |
| Congresswoman Elise Stefanik | 13% | 20% | 11% | 8% | 29% | 19% |
Constitutional Amendment
Do you support or oppose amending the New York State Constitution to establish a term limit on the office of the governor?
Three-quarters (37% strongly support and 37% somewhat support combined) of voters supported amending the New York State constitution to establish term limits. Only 14% of surveyed voters opposed term limits for the governor. Support was very strong across the board, as age, gender, income, region, party, education and race all strongly supported amending the constitution to establish term limits for the governor of New York.
Survey Takeaways
Cuomo is still very popular, but he is not the same media darling or "Father knows best" character on television anymore.
While his job performance and favorability are good, New Yorkers are ready for someone new! 47% of surveyed voters say it's time for someone new compared with only 41% who say Cuomo should be re-elected.
In hypothetical head to head match-ups in the 2022 Democratic primary for Governor, Cuomo easily beats Letitia James and A.O.C. Cuomo's toughest competition came from Rep. Elise Stefanik. As we have seen in other polls, A.O.C. performed very well with younger voters and polled better than Cuomo with voters aged 18-24 and 18-29.
Since the release of the Attorney General's report on nursing home deaths, New Yorkers have taken a different tone when it comes to accountability. Almost half blame the governor and his policies - even Democrats in the state were split. This is a situation that will probably not go away anytime soon.
New Yorkers were adamant it was time for someone new to lead the state and they would like the constitution to be amended to place term limits on how many terms the governor can serve. While some pundits expect Andrew Cuomo to easily secure a fourth term in 2022, he will have to work for it! Right now, if the right candidate emerges, a´ la George Pataki in 1994, New Yorkers might be saying to Andrew Cuomo, thank you, next!
View crosstabs here:
###
Zogby Analytics Poll Methodology
New York Likely Voters
2/3/21 - 2/5/21
Zogby Analytics conducted an online survey of 810 likely voters in New York.
Using internal and trusted interactive partner resources, thousands of adults were randomly invited to participate in this interactive survey. Each invitation is password coded and secure so that one respondent can only access the survey one time.
Using information based on census data, voter registration figures, CIA fact books and exit polls, we use complex weighting techniques to best represent the demographics of the population being surveyed. Weighted variables may include age, race, gender, region, party, education, and religion.
Based on a confidence interval of 95%, the margin of error for 810 is +/- 3.4 percentage points. This means that all other things being equal, the identical survey repeated will have results within the margin of error 95 times out of 100.
Subsets of the data have a larger margin of error than the whole data set. As a rule we do not rely on the validity of very small subsets of the data especially sets smaller than 50-75 respondents. At that subset we can make estimations based on the data, but in these cases the data is more qualitative than quantitative.
Additional factors can create error, such as question wording and question order.
###
About Zogby Analytics:
Zogby Analytics is respected nationally and internationally for its opinion research capabilities. Since 1984, Zogby has empowered clients with powerful information and knowledge critical for making informed strategic decisions.
The firm conducts multi-phased opinion research engagements for banking and financial services institutions, insurance companies, hospitals and medical centers, retailers and developers, religious institutions, cultural organizations, colleges and universities, IT companies and Federal agencies. Zogby's dedication and commitment to excellence and accuracy are reflected in its state-of-the-art opinion research capabilities and objective analysis and consultation.